Seventy-Day Maternity Leave Plan Goes Before Parliament

TDT | Manama

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Seventy days’ paid maternity leave for women in the public sector will go before Parliament on Tuesday, as MPs weigh a proposal to extend the current 60-day allowance in line with Saudi and Egyptian law.

The move comes in the form of a recommendation from four MPs - Hanan Fardan, Jaleela Alawi, Basema Mubarak and Maryam Al Saegh – and carries the backing of Parliament’s Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee. The committee has advised the chamber to agree to the proposal and send a formal request to the government to raise the length of paid leave for civil servants after childbirth.

Under the current rules, a woman working in a government body is entitled to 60 days’ maternity leave on full pay, including all allowances. The leave runs from the date of delivery recorded in an approved medical certificate, and the employee may, if she wishes, start up to 15 days before the expected due date. Once she returns to work, a Bahraini mother is granted two paid nursing hours a day until her child reaches the age of two, with timings arranged in line with the needs of the workplace. She may also ask for unpaid childcare leave to look after a child under six, for up to two years at a time and three times over the course of her service.

Supporters of the change say it would give working mothers in government more time with their newborns and bring Bahrain closer to nearby labour systems. They point to Article 5(b) of the Constitution, which states that the state shall ensure a balance between a woman’s duties towards her family and her work in society and her equality with men in political, social, cultural and economic life, without breaching Islamic law. MP Hanan Fardan, who presented the recommendation, has argued in her written statement that the 60-day limit in the Civil Service regulations should be reviewed in light of Saudi and Egyptian practice.

Saudi labour law grants working women ten weeks of fully paid maternity leave, which can begin up to four weeks before the expected date of delivery. Egyptian law gives women ninety days’ maternity leave on full pay, covering both the period before and after childbirth, provided a medical certificate is produced setting out the likely date of delivery.

Parliament’s Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, which was asked for its view, stated that the proposal would not have a direct impact on the state budget. It warned, however, that there could be indirect effects, mentioning a likely influence on work output and a wider gap between benefits in the public and private sectors. In its report, the panel noted concerns that stronger leave terms for civil servants might make public-sector work more attractive to women than private employment, and drew attention to further points raised by its economic adviser on the possible impact on the labour market.

The Civil Service Bureau took a more cautious approach in its written reply. It said the current legal structure had been drawn up to balance the needs of the workplace with the family life of female staff. The Bureau pointed out that the Civil Service Law, issued by Decree-Law No 48 of 2010, together with the implementing regulation issued by the Prime Minister through Decision No 51 of 2012 and the related financial rules, already provides a range of leave rights and work benefits for women in government posts.

The Bureau stated that raising the length of maternity leave would have a direct effect on work output and on the regular running of government bodies, as longer absences would need cover through extra staff or changes in how work is shared. It noted that women make up 57.5 per cent of the civil service workforce and said that, in its view, extending paid leave to 70 days for this group would lead to higher costs and extra spending at a time when the government is working to reduce and control expenditure.

In its reply, the Bureau also listed the main legal texts that govern leave. Article 20 of the Civil Service Law sets a general framework for leave types in government. Articles 28 to 33 of the implementing regulation lay down the terms for different kinds of leave in the civil service, including maternity leave and nursing hours. Clause 12 of Article 31 confirms the right to paid nursing time after maternity leave, while Article 32 gives a mother the option of unpaid leave to care for a child under six, within the limits already fixed by law.

The Supreme Council for Women stated that recommendations from MPs are, under the Constitution, handled by the government in line with its work programmes. It added that putting this proposal into practice would require an amendment to the law, rather than an internal decision by the executive, and so would have to go through the usual legislative steps.

The Bahraini Women’s Union welcomed the content of the recommendation. In its view, there is a clear need for longer maternity leave for working citizens, both to support mothers in the early months after childbirth and to help ensure newborn children receive care from their mothers in that period.

parliament has earlier agreed to a separate recommendation from MP Dr Ali Al Nuaimi to extend maternity leave under other terms designed to take into account both family needs and the interests of the workplace. The coming debate will decide whether MPs again press the government to change the law and write a longer maternity leave period into the rules for women working in the public sector.